


Pieces

by ReneeoftheStars



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Genre: Character Death, Shmi skywalker death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-13 03:19:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12974730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReneeoftheStars/pseuds/ReneeoftheStars
Summary: After the death of Shmi Skywalker, Cliegg Lars offers Anakin Skywalker a parting gift to remember his mother by.





	Pieces

**Author's Note:**

> Written for tumblr blog finish-the-clone-wars' writing Wednesday prompt: A Gift

The boy’s grief was so palpable, it seemed to eclipse Cliegg’s.

Anakin had fallen to his knees atop his mother’s grave, letting sand run between his fingers as he mourned. The anguish on his face was almost painful to look at.

For his part, Cliegg found he had no more words to say for the moment. He knew he would come talk to Shmi often in the weeks to come. His eyes were dry; he had spent his tears when he failed to get her back the first time. Fury rumbled in his chest – fury at himself for abandoning his search for his beloved wife. Yes, he’d lost his leg and been incapacitated for days, but he should have kept looking. Shmi had suffered much worse at the hands of the Raiders, as the bruises and breaks on her body had shown.

The boy slowly got to his feet, eyes fixed on the headstone. “I miss you,” he whispered, voice breaking, “so much.”

Cliegg looked over at his own son. Owen’s eyes watered, but he didn’t let the tears fall. He had one hand on Beru’s shoulder, as though supporting himself. Cliegg had forbid Owen from going after Shmi with him and the others. He still was thankful his son had obeyed the request – otherwise, Cliegg would be burying both his wife and his son.

A series of beeps and whistles cut through his dark thoughts, and he turned his chair in annoyance, expecting one of the vaporator droids to be tottering towards him. Instead, an unfamiliar, shiny blue-accented astromech rolled up.

“Artoo?” the girl – Padmé, he remembered – asked. “What are you doing here?” Cliegg realized that the droid had come from their ship.

The droid whistled in response. Anakin stepped off Shmi’s grave, coming to stand beside the young senator. C-3P0 turned, photoreceptors focusing as he translated. “It seems that he is carrying a message from an Obi-Wan Kenobi. Hmm. Master Ani, does that name mean anything to you?”

The boy’s face contorted. His eyes closed and he bowed his head, as though ashamed. “Yes, Threepio,” he said quietly. “Master Kenobi is my mentor.”

“Will he be coming here?” Beru asked. _Sweet girl, that one_ , Cliegg thought absently. She wanted everyone to be happy; it was how she and Shmi found a kinship with one another. Combined, the two women had brought a joy into his household that he didn’t know was possible. Owen would be a lucky man indeed if Beru accepted his hand in marriage.

“No.” Anakin’s voice became guarded, formal, as though he were bracing himself to be scolded. “I am not supposed to be here. He has no knowledge that I came back to Tatooine.”

“I’m sure he won’t be angry,” Padmé said hurriedly.

“Anger is not permitted in a Jedi,” he said, almost automatically. He hesitated. “He’ll be disappointed, though. It’s most likely a summons.”

“You’ll be leaving, then?” Cliegg asked, maneuvering his chair towards his stepson. This was happening all too fast. A single day was not enough time to know this son of Shmi Skywalker, the boy who welcomed strangers into his home, who gave friends his own rations, who took broken pieces and fashioned them into a droid all so it could help his mother. Shmi had spoken so often about her son, Cliegg felt as though he knew the boy. But watching the dark expression that haunted his face, he wondered if maybe young Skywalker had grown into an unhappier man than his mother had hoped.

“There’s no reason to stay. There’s nothing left for me here.” The young Jedi turned fully to face Cliegg. “You seem like a good man. I’m grateful to you for freeing my mother, and giving her a life outside of slavery.”

“I only wish I had been able to take her away from this world,” Cliegg said gruffly. “I’ve heard tales of beautiful planets…I’d hoped to someday let her see them.”

It seemed Anakin had nothing more to say. With a stiff bow, he turned and began walking towards the ship, without so much as a glance backwards.

 _That’s not right._ Cliegg didn’t know where the thought had come from, but suddenly he was angling his chair forward. _Not like this. His last memory of his mother can’t be this._

“Son!” he called. Anakin stopped, the girl and astromech close behind him. The boy’s face was drawn into a scowl, and from the way has hands curled at his sides, it was clear that he wanted to leave this dusty world far behind him.

Cliegg came to a halt in front of him. “Take the droid.”

The young Jedi blinked in surprise. “What?”

“You built it. It's yours. Shmi told me how the two of you would work on it together, that when you’d get frustrated because a component wasn’t working, she’d come in and help you figure out what went wrong. She pieced the plating together, gave it coverings. This droid doesn’t belong to me – it belongs to Shmi, and to you. Take it.” Cliegg turned to the protocol droid. “Threepio, you’re to go with Master Ani. Help him any way you can.”

“Yes, Master Owen,” C-3P0 said primly, shuffling towards his creator.

Anakin was shaking his head. “You need him for the vaporators.”

Cliegg waved a dismissive hand. “I’ve got a mechanic who can get me another droid for cheap. You need this one more than I do.” He pause a moment before going on. “Its memory’s never been wiped. It can tell you anything you want from the day you turned it on to the day your mother went missing. It can tell you whatever you want to know about her.”

The boy blinked rapidly as the droid stepped up to him. He studied the droid’s face, as though he were looking at an old friend.

“Master Ani, I’m very happy to be in your services again.”

Anakin smiled. It was a sad, wistful smile, but it softened his face, and for a moment, Cliegg saw the hopeful boy he must have been when he left Tatooine.

“Thank you,” the young man said, turning his gaze towards Cliegg. “I – I can’t thank you enough.”

Cliegg nodded. “Go home, son.”

As he watched the Jedi and his companions board their ship, Owen came up beside him. “That was a nice gesture, Dad.”

“It’s what Shmi would have wanted,” Cliegg answered simply. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a necklace. It wasn’t ornate or fashionable; it was a simple circle of cut japor ivory wood on a length of thin cord, with two blue stones on either side of the pendant. He held it out towards his son.

Owen took it hesitantly, handling it gently, as though afraid he would break it. “Mom’s necklace?”

“You deserve to have a piece of her to keep as your own.”

“I made this for her,” Owen said slowly. “When she first started living with us.”

“She’s always treasured it.”

“Thanks, Dad,” he murmured, wrapping his hand around the japor.

With a dull roar, the sleek ship rose into the air, swirling sand and dirt around it. Beru rested one hand on Cliegg’s shoulder, and Owen wrapped an arm around her waist. Together, the three of them watched until Shmi Skywalker’s son disappeared into the galaxy.


End file.
